Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
“Congrats to UTEP, they are a really good basketball team. Thought they would be the most talented team we played against. It came down to our inability to defend them. When you have a team come in and shoot 60 percent against you it’s tough to beat them. We have a lot of work to do.”
On the team’s defensive performance:
“We knew we had a size disadvantage with (Tony) Crocker. Early in the game our rotations were not right. We got started off on a bad foot defensively and it just kind of spiraled. We were closing out on guys we shouldn’t have been closing out on. We had Tiny (Gallon) too far from the goal. I thought we had gotten better defensively and then we didn’t play well defensively against Northern Colorado, and that carried over.
“We had been better up until Northern Colorado and we kind of reverted to how we were in Alaska. UTEP beat us. They are a really good team. I think you saw some of our immaturity rear its head the past couple of days. The guys thought we could just win by outscoring teams.”
On not playing until Dec. 31:
“I don’t know if any time off for these guys is good. I thought when we are playing well is when we have consistent practices. It will be great when we get back from Christmas and we can just get back into practices. Hopefully our focus can be on becoming a better basketball team.”
On Tiny Gallon’s play:
“Tiny played well in the second half and that was great for us. It’s amazing you have to tell a guy to be a great player. But he responded to it and that was really, really good for us.”
Oklahoma Guard Willie Warren
On the loss:
“They were very athletic, but I don’t think that’s what determined the outcome. We didn’t get down low. We’re not going to be able to win games if we can’t defend. All our games from here on out are going to be tough. We have Gonzaga, and then we have Big 12 play and that’s tough.”
On not playing until Dec. 31:
“We need practice. We don’t need a break we need practice time. Our break will be in Norman in the gym.”
On the most frustrating part of the season for him:
“Losing. We already lost four games, last year we lost six. That’s the most frustrating thing for me.”
Oklahoma Guard Tommy Mason-Griffin
On the game:
“We didn’t match their tempo from the jump. Coach told us it would be tough if we didn’t come out ready to rebound and defend.”
